Patch and storage system

ABSTRACT

The application is directed to a system, the system includes a patch, the patch including a rear face that is at least partially covered by a hook fastener, a footwear, wherein the footwear includes an exterior surface of a loop fastener and a sheet, the sheet including a hook portion and a loop portion, wherein the patch is can to attach to either of the exterior surface of the footwear or the loop portion of the sheet.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/586,936, filed on Nov. 16, 2017.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Typical footwear, such as boots or shoes are designed to look a certain way for their useful lifetimes. Typically, owners of such footwear cannot modify or accessorize the footwear without difficult and/or time consuming procedures.

What is desired is a type of footwear that can be accessorized relatively easily, and a storage system for storing accessories for the footwear when the accessories are not in use on the footwear. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods that address the above and other issues.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to a system, the system includes a patch, the patch including a rear face that is at least partially covered by a hook fastener, a footwear, wherein the footwear includes an exterior surface of a loop fastener and a sheet, the sheet including a hook portion and a loop portion, wherein the patch is can to attach to either of the exterior surface of the footwear or the loop portion of the sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood by reference to the following drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a footwear;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the footwear;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the footwear with a patch applied thereto;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the footwear with two patches applied thereto;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the footwear with two patches applied thereto;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an interior surface of a board;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an exterior surface of the board;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the interior surface of the board, with a plurality of patches attached thereto;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the exterior surface of the board, with a plurality of patches attached thereto;

FIG. 10 is a top view of one surface of a sheet;

FIG. 11 is a magnified view of the upper portion of the sheet;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the sheet in an attached configuration;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the sheet in an attached configuration, with a plurality of patches attached thereto;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the sheet in a rolled configuration, with a plurality of patches attached thereto; and

FIG. 15 is a front view of a bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application will now be described in greater detail by referring to the following discussion and drawings that accompany the present application. It is noted that the drawings of the present application are provided for illustrative purposes only and, as such, the drawings are not drawn to scale. It is also noted that like and corresponding elements are referred to by like reference numerals.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as particular structures, components, materials, dimensions, processing steps and techniques, in order to provide an understanding of the various embodiments of the present application. However, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments of the present application may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures or processing steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present application.

It will be understood that when an element as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” or “over” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” or “directly over” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “beneath” or “under” another element, it can be directly beneath or under the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly beneath” or “directly under” another element, there are no intervening elements present.

In the discussion and claims herein, the term “about” indicates that the value listed may be somewhat altered, as long as the alteration does not result in nonconformance of the process or structure to the illustrated embodiment. For example, for some elements the term “about” can refer to a variation of ±0.1%, for other elements, the term “about” can refer to a variation of ±1% or ±10%, or any point therein.

As used herein, the term “substantially”, or “substantial”, is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, a surface that is “substantially” flat would either be completely flat, or so nearly flat that the effect would be the same as if it were completely flat.

As used herein terms such as “a”, “an” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration.

As used herein, terms defined in the singular are intended to include those terms defined in the plural and vice versa.

Reference herein to any numerical range expressly includes each numerical value (including fractional numbers and whole numbers) encompassed by that range. To illustrate, reference herein to a range of “at least 50” or “at least about 50” includes whole numbers of 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, etc., and fractional numbers 50.1, 50.2 50.3, 50.4, 50.5, 50.6, 50.7, 50.8, 50.9, etc. In a further illustration, reference herein to a range of “less than 50” or “less than about 50” includes whole numbers 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, etc., and fractional numbers 49.9, 49.8, 49.7, 49.6, 49.5, 49.4, 49.3, 49.2, 49.1, 49.0, etc. In yet another illustration, reference herein to a range of from “5 to 10” includes whole numbers of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and fractional numbers 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, etc.

One embodiment of footwear 2 is shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, footwear 2 is in the shape of a boot, but in other embodiments, footwear 2 can be any suitable shape and/or structure partially or wholly covering a person's foot, including but not limited to sneakers, sandals, heels and shoes.

At least a portion of the exterior surface of footwear 2 includes one, or both, elements of a hook and loop fastener. For example a portion of footwear 2 can be covered in a hook fastener. In another example a portion of footwear 2 can be covered in a loop fastener. In another example a portion of footwear 2 can be covered in a hook fastener and another portion of footwear 2 can be covered in a loop fastener. Although FIG. 1 is referred to as a surface being “covered” with a fastener, portions of the footwear 2 itself can be formed of the fastener, such that an additional covering layer is not needed.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of footwear 2, including a view of an optional securing element 4. In this embodiment optional securing element 4 is a zipper, but in other embodiments optional securing element 4 can be snaps, buttons, laces and the like.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of footwear 2 with a patch 6 applied to an outer surface of the footwear 2. The patch 6 can be in any suitable shape and thickness, and can be formed of any suitable material, such as a cloth and/or a plastic based material.

The term “applied” or “attached” is meant to refer to a force or pressure from a human hand, or the like, to a sufficient degree to cause the hook and loop fasteners of the patch 6 and the footwear 2 to sufficiently fasten to each other and maintain patch 6 in substantially the same location of the footwear 2. Each patch 6 can also be removed from the footwear 2 by an opposite force or pressure from a human hand, or the like, pulling the patch 6 away from the footwear 2 and causing the hook and loop fasteners to unfasten from each other.

Although not shown, the rear face of patch 6, which is in contact with the outer surface of the footwear 2, can be wholly or partially covered by a fastener (hook, loop, or hook and loop) that is opposed to the fastener of the outer surface of the footwear 2 the patch 6 is applied to. As one example, the rear face of patch 6 can be partially covered by a hook fastener, and a surface of the footwear 2 can be a loop fastener.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of footwear 2 having two patches 6 applied thereto. The number of patches 6 is not limited to one or two, and may be three, four or more.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the placement of patches 6 can be on any viewable surface of footwear 2, including but not limited to an instep area (as shown in FIG. 5) and an upper area (as shown in FIG. 3).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an interior surface of a board 8, which is configured to have attached one or more patches 6. Board 8 can be a single piece of material, or several pieces, and can include one, two or more folds. In FIG. 6, board 8 is a single piece of material having one vertical fold.

At least a portion of the exterior surface and the interior surface of board 8 includes one, or both, elements of a hook and loop fastener. For example a portion of board 8 can be covered in a hook fastener. In another example a portion of board 8 can be covered in a hook fastener and another portion of board 8 can be covered in a loop fastener. Although FIG. 6 is referred to as a surface being “covered” with a fastener, portions of the board 8 itself can be formed of the fastener, such that an additional coveting layer is not needed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an exterior surface of board 8.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the interior surface of the board 8, with a plurality of patches 6 attached thereto. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the exterior surface of the board 8, with a plurality of patches 6 attached thereto.

The patches 6 can be stored on one or more surfaces of the board 8 while they are not attached to a user's footwear 2. When a user wants to add a patch 6 to their footwear 2 they can remove the patch 6 from a surface of the board 8, and attach the patch 6 to the footwear 2. When a user wants to remove a patch 6 from their footwear 2, they can remove the patch 6 from a surface of their footwear 2, and attach the patch 6 to the board 8. Additional patches 6 can be attached and/or removed from the footwear 2 and board 8 as desired.

As another embodiment for storage and/or attachment of one or more patches, FIG. 10 is a top view of one surface of a sheet 20. Sheet 20 includes a hook portion 22 and a loop portion 24. A magnified view of the hook portion 22 and the loop portion 24 is shown in FIG. 11, discussed below. Sheet 20 can be formed of any suitable material that can support the hook portion 22 and the loop portion 24, such as any suitable fabric or textile.

The hook portion 22 is shown as a strip on an upper border of the sheet 20, but in other embodiments, the dimensions of the hook portion 22 can be lesser or greater in any dimension, and can also be not continuous. The dimensions of the loop portion 24 can be of any size that is suitable to have one or more patches attached thereto (which is shown in FIG. 13, discussed below).

A magnified view of the hook portion 22 and the loop portion 24 is shown in FIG. 11. As can be seen in FIG. 11, the hook portion 22 is operably connected to the sheet 20 along an upper edge of the sheet 20.

FIG. 12 shows the sheet 20 in an attached configuration, which in this embodiment being attached to a clothes hanger 26. To place the sheet 20 into this attached configuration, the hook portion 22 can be folded over a portion of the hanger 26 (or any other suitable element that can support the sheet), and caused to contact a portion of the loop portion 24, thus attaching the hook portion 22 to the loop portion 24. In the attached configuration the hanger 26 passes through a cavity formed by the attachment of the hook portion 22 to the part of the loop portion 24.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the sheet 20 in an attached configuration, with a plurality of patches 6 attached thereto.

Since the sheet 20 is formed of any suitable fabric or textile, it is flexible and can be folded and/or rolled as desired. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the sheet 20 in a rolled configuration, with a plurality of patches 6 attached thereto. In this rolled configuration, the sheet 20 is rolled vertically, from a bottom edge, and the hook portion 22 is folded over and caused to contact a portion of the loop portion 24, thus attaching the hook portion 22 to the loop portion 24 and causing the sheet 20 to substantially maintain the rolled configuration.

A bag 10 (as shown in FIG. 15) can be included with one or more of the footwear 2, patch 6, board 8 and sheet 20 to form a system. FIG. 15 is a front view of one embodiment of the bag 10.

The bag 10 can be dimensioned to hold within the bag 10 one or more pieces of footwear 2, one or more boards 8 and/or one or more sheets 20 and one or more patches 6 attached to one or more of the footwear 2, the board 8 and the sheet 20. In other embodiments, bag 10 can be dimensioned to hold within the bag 10 one or more pieces of footwear 2, and one or more patches 6 attached to the footwear 2. In other embodiments, the bag 10 can be dimensioned to hold within the bag 10 one or more boards 8 and one or more patches 6 attached to the board 8.

The patches 6 can be stored on one or more surfaces of the sheet 20 while they are not attached to a user's footwear 2. When a user wants to add a patch 6 to their footwear 2, they can remove the patch 6 from a surface of the sheet 20, and attach the patch 6 to the footwear 2. When a user wants to remove a patch 6 from their footwear 2, they can remove the patch 6 from a surface of their footwear 2, and attach the patch 6 to the sheet 20, with the sheet being in either an attached configuration (FIG. 13) or a rolled configuration (FIG. 14). Additional patches 6 can be attached and/or removed from the footwear 2 and sheet 20 as desired.

The described embodiments and examples of the present disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and are not intended to represent every embodiment or example of the present disclosure. While the fundamental novel features of the disclosure as applied to various specific embodiments thereof have been shown, described and pointed out, it will also be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the disclosure may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. Further, various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as set forth in the following claims both literally and in equivalents recognized in law. 

1. A system, the system comprising: a patch, the patch comprising a rear face that is at least partially covered by a hook fastener; a footwear, wherein the footwear comprises an exterior surface of a loop fastener; and a sheet, the sheet comprising a hook portion and a loop portion, wherein the patch is configured to attach to either of the exterior surface of the footwear or the loop portion of the sheet.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hook portion of the sheet can be attached to a part of the loop portion of the sheet to maintain the sheet in an attached configuration.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein a portion of a hanger can pass through a cavity formed by the attachment of the hook portion of the sheet to the part of the loop portion of the sheet. 